Coachella is upon me

This weekend, I’ll be attending a 3 day concert, one of the biggest and brightest in the country. The timing isn’t exactly ideal since we’ve got a half marathon to run the following weekend. I’ve been to Coachella once before, and the time it took for my body to recover from soreness, dehydration, and tireless traipsing around the desert took a solid 4 days. To add insult to injury, I’m not sure the hotel we’re cramming in to will have wi-fi or a computer I’ll be able to access. So here’s the deal: I’m going to bring a notepad with me and write stories “on the road.” And when I return from this epic journey on Monday, I’ll post them up.

Writing by hand is something a lot of writers swear by (something about your hand being close to your heart, and getting your whole body into the rhythm of writing) but I’ve never been able to do very successfully. On the other hand, Gabriel Garcia-Marquez said once that a writer must have all the creature comforts around her to write well, and this included writing on an electric typewriter (there were no computers then, if there were I’m sure he would have extolled their virtues as well.) But out of necessity, I will be writing out stories by hand this weekend. When I return I’ll be wiser, tanner, and definitely more deaf. Wish me luck.

Today’s story is another short one. I found a fancy little magazine called 6 Sentence Stories, where that’s all they do. After trying this form out, I found it’s slightly less restrictive than the 7 line story. Although a less restrictive form is easier and faster to write, in the more restrictive form (the 7 line variety) one must work to scrutinize every word, which leads to more polished prose, I think. I learn something new about writing every day.

Thanks for tuning in, friends, I hope you have a significant weekend, and enjoy the story!

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